


Morning After

by RedGeneral



Category: Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Genre: I saw a drawing on Tumblr, M/M, Not Beta Read, and idk what happened
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-03
Updated: 2020-05-07
Packaged: 2021-02-27 11:01:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,470
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22105978
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RedGeneral/pseuds/RedGeneral
Summary: This was not something a General of the Imperial Army, the Military Governor of Skyrim, a position he’d worked his entire life for, should ever do. He was supposed to suppress and end the raging rebellion, not wake up in bed with its leader.
Relationships: Ulfric Stormcloak/Tullius
Comments: 7
Kudos: 35





	1. Chapter 1

Oh Gods, what had he done. This was not something a General of the Imperial Army, the Military Governor of Skyrim, a position he’d worked his entire life for, should ever do. He was supposed to suppress and end the raging rebellion, not wake up in bed with its leader.  
He wasn't sure if he could sneak out from the embrace he was trapped in without waking the large Nord. His head rested on the other man's bicep and his own arms were trapped under another large arm extended across his chest where his heart hammered against his chest.  
Tullius carefully moved his head to look around the simple room. Other than the bed there was only a wardrobe and a small table with a pair of chairs. His gaze drifted to the morning light was beginning to filter in through the windows on the other side of the sleeping Jarl, casting a soft warm light over the room and giving the edges of Ulfric’s blonde hair a golden glow. The lines on his face present but soft in sleep, he looked peaceful and relaxed and if the situation wasn’t so unbearably awkward he might have called him handsome.  
He let out a soft sigh as he simply laid there for a moment, trying to think of the best way to slip away, preferably before the Jarl woke. After some painfully long moments, Tullius finally started to slowly move but he didn't get far. The Jarl's thick arms suddenly curled around him and pulled him onto his side and tightly into his chest.

"Nice try," a deep sleepy voice rumbled above him, "but you're not sneaking away from me that easily." Tullius froze, his heart hammered against his chest when he realized that he wasn't the only one awake.  
"Is that not what you would have preferred?" He answered with a nervous waver in his voice despite his best efforts.  
"Actually no." A large hand began to gently rub circles on his back. Surprised by the tenderness with how he was being touched and the completely unexpected warmth and playfulness in Ulfric's voice he was stunned into silence as he collected his thoughts.

"Why?" He finally managed to ask, bewildered and suspicious. A chuckle was the only answer he got as Ulfric suddenly shifted, giving Tullius a little more breathing room and the ability to see anything other than his chest and arms. He looked up at the larger man, confusion undoubtedly etched across his face. He'd expected a lot of reactions but this certainly wasn't one of them and he couldn't fathom that one night together would have softened the Jarl towards him no matter how good it was.  
"Last night was..." Ulfric started but paused as his gaze drifted down the General's exposed chest and his mouth pulled into a playful smirk, "something I wouldn't mind doing again."  
Tullius flushed a dark humiliating red and abruptly sat up, easily pulling away now that he didn't have to do it stealthily and effectively putting a little bit of space between the two of them. Ulfric's smirk fell away and was replaced with what almost looked like disappointment.

A fog seemed to lift from Tullius' mind now that he wasn't being cuddled, no cuddling wasn't the right word, cuddling was something you did with someone you cared about, not a one time mistake, a terrible terrible mistake. Snuggled? Gods no, that was worse! Well, whatever he ended up calling it at least he could think clearly now. Though, as he sat there with just a thin sheet pooled around his hips and his upper body exposed he realized just how cold it was in this almost bare room and just how much more exposed he would be should he lose the sheet. Ulfric seemed to notice that as well and his look of disappointment quickly curled back into a smirk and chuckled.  
"What's so funny?" he snapped ignoring the cold and trying not to think about how warm Ulfric's arms had been.  
"Nothing, nothing, I was just... remembering something," He winked and that infuriating smirk got bigger. Tullius could only blink at him in stunned silence for a few dumbstruck moments.  
"This isn't a joke!"  
"I didn't say it was," Ulfric shrugged, trying to hide his growing grin behind a hand.  
"You're certainly acting like it is," Tullius snarled, frustrated that the Jarl didn't seem in the least bit fazed by the fact that the man he was ogling was trying to destroy his rebellion, "how are you so nonchalant about all this?"  
Ulfric shrugged and reached out a hand to graze his lightly over his arm, frowning when Tullius flinched and pulled further away. "I enjoyed last night and from the noises you were making, you seemed to enjoy it too."  
He recoiled in shock, his cheeks heating up and turning a dark red as he quickly looked away and slumped over to cover his face with his hands, feeling utterly humiliated. He could hear Ulfric shuffling when he suddenly felt him behind him. His large arms on either side as his hands gently pulled his own from his face before wrapping them around him. The Jarl's deep voice rumbled next to his ear as he rested his chin on Tullius' shoulder.  
"Come on now, it's not that bad, would you rather it been the ambassador?" He could hear the grin in Ulfric's voice and simply glared at the wall in front of him.  
"Of course not," he snapped, cringing just at the thought, "but I'm more concerned with someone finding out... how could anyone trust me, I'd be seen as a traitor, weak."  
"Is that really what you think," Ulfric snorted in disbelief, the action rustling his short hair, "sleeping with me doesn't make you a traitor."  
"I'm fraternizing with the enemy, what else would that make me?"  
"There's a lot of things out there that could make you a traitor, but I don't think this is one of them, you're just... getting your rocks off."  
"By the Gods," he brought a hand back to his face and desperately wished he was anywhere but there, "for someone who's supposedly so good with words, you're terrible at saying the right thing." The Jarl just chuckled and Tullius could feel him shrug.  
"I can't be perfect all the time." Tullius rolled his eyes at that. "But I'll promise you something, this will be a secret then, no one can judge you if they don't know what you're doing, now come on, lay back down," the Jarl urged gently.

Keeping this a secret didn't sound so bad, he hadn't thought Ulfric would have gone along with it so he hadn't honestly considered that as a possibility. But that didn't mean that this was any less of a mistake nor did it mean he could stay like the Jarl clearly wanted him to.  
"Well, thank you but... I should probably go before everyone wakes up then." There was a moment of silence, then a sigh before Ulfric's arms slowly slid away leaving Tullius exposed once again to the cold room. There was an annoying pang of guilt and urge to further explain himself but he didn't. After all, he didn't owe Ulfric anything, certainly not an explanation. At least that was what he kept telling himself, hoping the nagging feeling would go away and that the idea of leaving would be more appealing the more he repeated it and the closer he got to actually walking out the door.  
Ulfric didn't try to stop him as he scooted to the edge of the bed, keeping the sheet covering his lower half and swung his legs over but after a quick look around he froze.  
"Where are my clothes?"


	2. Chapter 2

Ulfric watched amused as a clearly exasperated Tullius wrapped the blanket around his waist and roughly yanked it off the bed and off Ulfric himself, leaving the Jarl exposed and laughing at the dark red blush that spread over the General’s tanned face when he saw Ulfric in all of his unabashed glory.  
“Like what you see,” he teased, winking and folding his arms behind his head. Tullius snorted and frowned as he gathered up the blanket.  
“Where are my clothes,” he asked again, sounding annoyed and impatient.  
“I’m sure somewhere in the other room, I wasn’t exactly paying attention to where I was tossing them, sorry about that,” he laughed and then again when Tullius huffed and quickly marched out the door and into the other room.

Ulfric laid there for a moment, listening to the other man move around before he decided to get up himself and pull on a simple layer of clothes before following him. He wasn’t sure what he was going to say but a part of him just wanted to talk to the ornery man before he lost the chance and watched him stomp out of there.

He hadn’t expected the night to turn out the way it did and he hadn’t expected to find Tullius, of all people, as appealing and shockingly charming as he was. But he hadn’t been charming in the way of saying the right words or being smooth or charismatic, it was very much the opposite. In fact, there was an endearing clumsiness about the General. Not how he moved, Ulfric had seen the man fight once before in the confrontation that would lead up to Helgen and he was every bit impressive as he thought a decorated General should have been. From the little he’d seen, Tullius seemed comfortable in battle and knowledgeable dealing with military issues including their negotiations but when Ulfric spotted him at the wedding party it was another story. He was blunt, awkward and visibly uncomfortable in the sociable setting that Ulfric found himself to thrive in. So he really shouldn’t have been surprised when he caught sight of the General slipping away and out onto the large empty balcony.  
And after a few moments, Ulfric obviously followed, after all why pass up the opportunity to pester and harass the other man. But that didn't quite go according to plan, because that was where he learned that while Tullius could be every bit of the cantankerous aging General he appeared to be, he was also honest, shockingly intelligent, and surprisingly friendly, or at least as friendly as he could be towards someone he opposed in a war.

Ulfric stopped and leaned on the frame of the doorway and watched Tullius hastily tug on the formal outfit he’d been wearing the night before and he noted with some amusement that the blanket was already neatly folded on a chair nearby. Neat and organized as well, Ulfric smiled to himself, he seemed to still be learning things about the Imperial and he couldn’t help but wonder if Tullius was noticing and learning things about him as well.

Seemingly unaware of Ulfric watching him Tullius appeared to be trying his best to smooth out the numerous wrinkles that the clothes had gathered from lying crumpled on the floor for hours. Ulfric pushed himself off the frame and walked towards him.  
“You know you’ve already impressed me, you don’t need to keep trying.” Tullius spun around at his voice, back rigid and tense with an endearing look of confusion creasing his brow.  
“What are you talking about?”  
“You seem to be trying awfully hard to make that,” he gestured at the General’s wrinkled mess of clothes, “presentable, and I just don’t think that’s possible.” Tullius looked down at himself looking disappointed and disheartened, a look the Jarl didn’t think would twist his heart as it did. “Does it really matter though,” he quickly added, “you’re just going back to your own room.”  
“I guess not,” Tullius muttered, looking back up where they then stood in awkward silence for what felt like forever until Tullius suddenly cleared his throat, “well, I should get back before someone realizes I’m not in my room.”  
“You don’t have to leave right away,” Ulfric finally spoke, his voice softer than he intended and needier than he was willing to admit. Tullius seemed to notice because his annoyance and agitation seemed to melt away and he simply looked at Ulfric for a moment and he could’ve sworn he could see the wheels turning in his head.  
“You know I can’t stay,” he said simply.  
“Can’t you, we’ve signed a peace treaty haven’t we.”  
“A temporary peace treaty,” Tullius corrected him, though his tone was now surprisingly gentle.  
“Still a treaty, still an excuse if we want it to be.”  
“Don’t be absurd.”  
“Maybe there are things we still need to figure out, details that we forgot to go over back at High Hrothgar.” Ulfric knew he was reaching and he wondered if he looked as desperate as he strangely felt. There was an uncomfortable feeling of disappointment at the idea that if he didn’t try something now this could be his last chance because while the General had made quite the impression on him, he wasn’t sure he’d done the same and by the Nine he realized he desperately wanted to.  
Tullius seemed to notice this change, the little loss of confidence and lack of flirtation and he grew quiet and more observant. They again stood there the silence now more tense than awkward as Ulfric waited for Tullius to make a move or say something, anything that would make him feel less like a fool who was reading too much into a single night.  
“If there are things that still need to be discussed,” Tullius started, speaking slowly and clearly choosing his words carefully, “maybe we can do that later today, or… tonight?” An unexpected feeling of relief washed over him and he could feel the tension slip from his shoulders as he nodded in agreement, a small smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.

He walked him to the door but having a spike of confidence Ulfric quickly grabbed Tullius’ hand,  
“Wait.”  
“If I wait any longer it’s going to be tomorr-” he suddenly stopped when Ulfric reached up to cup his cheek. Tullius didn’t make any move to pull away or really any at all as he seemed frozen to the spot as he looked up at him with surprisingly warm eyes. They had spent the night together already so why was he so nervous. He swallowed and leaned down, pressing a kiss to the General’s lips. First relief and then excitement washed over him when he felt General respond albeit with some hesitation at first. It didn’t last long however and shortly after they pulled apart he found himself peeking out the door before giving Tullius the all-clear. And before he knew it, the Imperial had slipped down the castle’s hall and disappeared.


End file.
